Just For You
by Emely
Summary: Abby. Carter. A horse. Fuzz.


**Surprise, surprise. I don't own them. So don't sue me. **

**Here. My attempt for fuzz. Review and… I will give you… *empties pockets* three pennies and a piece of lint.  **

"I can't believe you own a horse." She laughs lightly, softly jabbing me in the side and looking over the area we've just entered, falling into step beside me.   
  
"I took lessons. So I needed one..." my lame excuse makes her stop walking and she turns around to face me, giving me an amused look. "Okay, okay... so you don't actually have to buy a horse when you take lessons. But Gamma thought it would be nice..." I place my arms at the side of her waist and turn her around, leading her in the direction of the stables, walking directly behind her, my arms wrapped around her torso. 

"So, you actually know how to use one of those things?"   
  
I can't help but laugh at that. "Ab, sweetheart, you don't use a horse..." even though I'm walking behind her, I can practically see her roll her eyes at me. I love her. We stop outside the stables, and she looks around curiously. "C'mon, she's this way," I take her hand and lead her inside, passing many horses. I finally stop in front of a beautiful brown creature and let go of her hand to open the stable door. 

"She's pretty," she says, "what's her name?"

"Ella," I lead the horse out of the stable, "but I call her Elles. Right, Elles?" I rub her nose, smiling brightly.   
  
"Did you name her?" Abby follows Elles and me, walking beside me.

  
"Yeah, why?"   
  
"I donno. It sounds like a... you kind of name."

"A me kind of name?"

  
She shrugs. "I don't know."

  
I laugh lightly as we go outside again, and I hop onto Elles as if it's something I do everyday. "Come on," I say to Abby, reaching down my hand to help her mount the horse too. She raises an eyebrow at me.  
  
"You're kidding, right?" 

  
"What? Of course not. We came all the way here and you're not going to ride with me?" I pout and look at her with puppy-dog eyes. 

"I thought we came here to find your horse a new owner! Not ride it!"   
  
"Well, maybe that was the case. But now I want you to come riding with me." 

  
"No way. I can't get on that, I'll fall and break my neck, seriously, animals hate me..." 

"Well you are a fish killer, they have a reason," I smile at her, "but I think this is different." 

  
"How is it different?" she mumbles.   
  
"Well, you didn't ride the fish, for one..."  
  
"Carter-"   
  
"Please?" She stares at me for a good minute, as if I'm crazy, "I promise I won't let you fall..."   
  
Abby hesitates and looks at me, as if she knows she's already lost, but she goes on anyway, "promise?" 

"Promise."

She pouts and gives in, and I offer my hand to her again. She takes it and I help her onto the horse, and I seat her right in front of me. I put the reigns in her hand and she immediately starts to panic, "wait, no, you have to control this thing, I have no idea what I'm doing, Carter. I swear to god-"  
  
"You're adorable," I laugh at her, and then place my hands over her's, "there, I've got you..." I instruct the horse to move and when she starts, Abby gives a little yelp.   
  
"You owe me so big for this..." she mumbles.   
  
"Nope, I don't..."   
  
"What? Of course you do. I'm riding on a horse. For you."

"Yeah, but I helped you with Luka's fish. I almost broke my back. For you."

  
"That was too long ago. We weren't even together; I don't think it should count..."

  
"Oh, but it does. We almost got arrested." 

  
"Yes we did," I can hear the smile in her voice, "but it was worth it."

  
"What was worth it?" I tease, placing my chin on her shoulder. She seems to have calmed down about the whole being-on-a-horse deal.

  
"Spending the day with you..." I'm surprised that she didn't come back with a sarcastic comment. I grin. Have I mentioned how much I love her? Probably. "Where are we going?" She asks after a little while, bringing me back to earth. 

  
"Mmm... there's a nice view up here somewhere." I say lazily, as she leans her head against mine. "See, this isn't too bad, right?"   
  
"I guess not. It's actually kind of relaxing," she turns her head slightly to give me a soft kiss on the cheek, "thank you." 

  
"Yeah, well, we all need to relax sometime. You especially." I shoot her a soft smile. 

"Do I come off as that pathetic?" She asks me. 

  
"Not pathetic. Just... I see the part nobody else gets to see, and it makes me love you more knowing how strong you are. And you do so well hiding everything from everyone else, because, well, I guess I'm trying to say that it's freaky that you haven't gone totally insane yet."   
  
"That's debatable." She laughs. 

  
"I'm serious, you know. You don't deserve any of it. You should be one of those princesses that everyone tries to keep sheltered and not let anything happen to. Because you're that special. And it's not fair..." I trail off, and tears spring to my eyes.

"Hey," she whispers, "its okay. Everyone goes through a lot. It's part of life... I wouldn't call your life perfect either. But sometimes bad things happen to good people, and there's nothing you can do but sit back and take it."

"I know, believe me, I know..."

"But hey, nothing's wrong right now. I mean, I know we've been through a lot... but being with you right now makes it all worth it. I feel a lot better than I have in... forever. I can't remember the last time I was this truly happy." 

I smile softly into her neck, taking in the scent of vanilla. My heart starts to beat a little faster. I can't express what this woman does to me.

"I love you..." she whispers it so softly, I can barely hear her, "I love you so much..."   
  
"I know." I lift my head up and meet her in a soft kiss. For a minute the whole world disappears, and it's just us. Abby and Carter. Carter and Abby. Just me and her. Everything I've always wanted. Then I remember that we're both on a horse, and I pull away slowly, paying attention to the path we're on. Abby leans her back on my chest, her head supported by my shoulder, and her hands still in mine. 

  
We ride for a while in silence, until we come to a place where we can see the sun set almost perfectly. I look at Abby to draw her attention to it, and I realize she's fallen asleep. Aww. She looks almost too cute to wake her. But I really want her to see this, so I place a kiss on her forehead. "Hey, Abby..."  
  
"Mmm. Just put her on an IV and call me when her labs come back..." a huge smile forms across my face. I find it adorable that she mumbles random medical junk in her sleep. Probably because she's told me I do it, too. 

  
"Abs, you have to see this..." I let one of my hands let go of the reigns and bring my hand to her cheek, stroking her face gently. "Get up, sweetie..." 

  
"Wha?" Her eyes flutter open, and I kiss her softly.   
  
"You fell asleep."   
  
"Oh." She says, looking around her. She takes in the sun set and gasps softly. "John, it's beautiful..." 

  
"I used to come up here to be alone when I was younger," I explain, "I saw the sun set one day and never wanted to leave." 

  
"I can see why. It's absolutely gorgeous."  
  
"We used to see a lot of this in Africa. I'd never want to leave. But then I came back to it, and..." I see her shut her eyes and I can tell it's so that she doesn't cry. I know how much going to Africa hurt her. "I... I guess. I came back to it and I realized no matter how much I loved Africa for the way it made me see things, I loved you so much more. I would give up a million sun sets, anything, to be with you for the rest of my life. That's what made me come back. The fact that you were here, in Chicago. You were the only thing dragging me back. Even if we weren't together, you had this hold on me... I just can't explain."

Her eyes flutter open, and the tears she had been holding in there are slowly slipping. I let go of the reigns, bringing my hand to her face so that I can wipe away her tears. I continue, "I was still drawn to you. Because as much as I tried to deny it, I couldn't. After everything that happened, I was- I am- still madly in love with you. And that will never change. I realized I can't run away from you. As hard as I try, you bring be back to you. Even if it's non-intentionally." 

I bring my hands from her face and wrap my arms around her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Abby. I'm so sorry I ever hurt you." This causes her to sniffle, and she squeezes her eyes shut as silent tears pour down her face. She turns sideward and lets her face drop down to my chest. She shakily lets go of the reigns, and wraps her arms around me. I realize that if the Elles were to make a sudden movement, we would both probably fall off. But I can't seem to think about that right now.   
  
All I can concentrate is her.   
  
Abigail Lockhart.   
  
She's everything to me. 

"John," she sniffles from her spot on my chest, "don't ever leave me again... I wouldn't be able to take it..." 

"I won't. I promise, Abby. I'll never leave you again. I want nothing more than to be with you for the rest of my life." She lifts her head and looks up at me, her tear-filled eyes staring into mine. And I realize I've waited too long to do this, I've wasted too much precious time with her. "Marry me..." I whisper softly to her. "Marry me, Abby..." 

This causes more tears to spill over and she nods her head, choking out out the word, "yes." It's one syllable that makes my heart pound inside my chest. I lean in and kiss her, and I realize that we're both shaking. 

She pulls back and leans her forehead against mine. "You're shaking..." she says softly.   
  
"So are you."   
  
"I know."   
  
"It took you long enough..." she smiles. The most beautiful smile I've ever seen.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that." I chuckle. I feel Ella slowly move beneath us, and I grasp my hands around the reigns again, remembering that I promised I wouldn't let her fall. And I don't intend to. "You know I can't sell this horse now," I laugh.   
  
Abby pets Elles and laughs too, "I know."

"Maybe I'll buy this whole place just for you..." I smile widely.   
  
"Just for me?"   
  
"Just for you." 


End file.
